Who is Fran Perel?

Fran Perel's Biography

Fran Perel, Owner and President of Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs Inc. is a Certified Pilates Instructor in the Original Pilates® Method and the Stott Method® of Contemporary Pilates. In 2003, Fran founded the first Original Pilates® Studio in the United States (located in Coral Springs, Florida) with Mary Pilates, niece of Joseph H. Pilates serving as Executive Director of Original Pilates® Instruction Exclusively for Parkland Pilates Inc. Fran Perel has remained in the same location running one of Coral Springs' most successful businesses and plans to continue to provide the Coral Springs area with the highest quality of Pilates instruction long into the future. Unique to her Pilates studio is Fran's ability to teach Pilates in both English and Spanish. Fran has trademarked her own unique form of exercise, Pilatesculpt®. It is a combination of Classical and Contemporary Pilates Mat and traditional Body Sculpting. It is the most effective form of exercise ever created and is exclusively taught at Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs. It is guaranteed to take unwanted inches off your body. Fran currently specializes in post-natal Pilates and post-mastectomy Pilates recovery and is know for reaching out to those who have had to overcome a physical limitation or hardship. She has encouraged those who would have never taken up the challenge of exercise to do so and has given them the courage and support to "stick with it."

Known for her intense passion for fitness and her unequaled brand of inspiration, Fran has touched hearts and enriched lives, devoting more than two decades to learning, teaching and working with clients to help them reach optimal health and well-being. Having reached the apogee of success as well as living a life of wellness and spiritual fulfillment, Fran Perel serves as a genuine role model and is one of Coral Springs' and Parkland's greatest assets.

Fran has a long-standing history of dedication to community service. She recently hosted National Pilates Day to raise donations to support a ground-breaking exercise initiative to bring free Pilates exercise classes to children in the public schools as part of her membership with the Pilates Method Alliance® (PMA). Coral Springs, Parkland and Boca Raton newspapers and magazines, including Parkland Life, the Coral Springs Forum and Our Town News, recognized, reported on, and applauded Fran's efforts and supported her "Healthy Movement for Life" initiative. The effort was a huge success and Fran will continue working on this project by volunteering teach Pilates in local public schools during the school year.

Fran Perel and Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs most recently participated in two other charitable events; the first was for the American Heart Association. The members of Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs participated in the Go Red For Women Movement. Class participants wore RED and performed Pilates exercises as a symbol of their power, passion and energy to wipe out the #1 killer of women, heart disease. By joining together with hundreds of companies across America, the energy and contributions of Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs helped to bring awareness to support vital research and educational programs needed to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease.

Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs and Fran Perel joined forces with Shape Magazine and other Pilates studios through out the nation and participated in a fund raising event for breast cancer. All funds collected were donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation to achieve prevention, if not a cure for breast cancer. Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs made a sizeable financial contribution to "Pilates for Pink."

Fran Perel is a veteran to the fitness industry. Her career began in Philadelphia more than two decades ago. Previous to opening Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs Inc., Fran taught every major form of exercise, holding numerous certifications and training in areas including Sports Nutrition, Step, Slide, Body Sculpting, Personal Training, Spinning, Aerobics, Resist-a-Ball Core Training, Pilates Mat and Pilates Equipment. She taught in many major gyms in the Philadelphia area. At the same time she also had her own business, Mind and Body Link. It was a women's health method service offering seminars, workshops, counseling and referral services for women's wellness. She first started participating in Pilates instruction in the Philadelphia area over 12 years ago.

Upon relocating to Florida, Fran taught in every major country club and gym in Boca Raton and Coral Springs. Prior to opening Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs Inc. Fran had extensive experience in managing and being in charge of a fitness facility. Fran was the first Fitness Director of Lady of America in Coral Springs, Broward County, Florida. She was involved with every aspect of the business from its pre-construction phase to the business becoming operational. She organized the budget, selected and ordered the equipment, decided what programs would be provided, designed the schedule of classes, auditioned and hired all the instructors and much more. Fran taught approximately 26 classes per week, including most of the Pilates classes. She went on to incorporate teaching Pilates with small apparatus into the Pilates program. Fran was in charge of ever aspect of the business from payroll to evaluating all instructors, including those who taught Pilates.

On the local level, Fran has established herself as one of the foremost authorities of Pilates in the Coral Springs and Parkland areas. Fran has been honored and recognized by All Bodies Home Fitness, (www.AllBodiesHomeFitness.com) located in the Shoppes at Heron Lakes, 5665 Coral Ridge Drive in Coral Springs. . She is feature on their "Wall of Fame" with other elite members of the fitness community who have measured up to their rigorous standards of excellence and have demonstrated the highest professional qualifications in their particular field of expertise. Fran has earned a place on their wall and is listed as one of their recommended experts in the field of Pilates instruction.

Fran has been recognized and featured as a Pilates author and a respected Pilates expert. She has been a feature column writer for Parkland Life Magazine, the most prestigious magazine in the area on numerous occasions. Well-known and well-respected magazine publisher Mindi Rudan has always shown appreciation for Fran's contributions.

Fran's reputation has been well established on the national level as well. She has been sought out by top professional athletes and marathon runners to help them perform "at the top of their game." She has trained members of the Miami Dolphins, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Her clients include elite athletes who have chosen to "gain the cutting edge" and cross-train with Fran in Original Pilates® Mat and Equipment as well as training real, average, and out-of-shape people.

Fran has recently trained Kimberly Holland, Playboy Playmate and Playboy Centerfold for her performance in the Superbowl festivities. Kimberly will continue to train with Fran to maintain her perfect body for future events.

Fran spends a good portion of her time to constantly refine and refresh her skills and learn new information as an instructor. She recently completed 35 hours of continuing education study to expand her ever-growing knowledge in the filed of health and fitness. In addition, Fran has studied with master instructor Bob Liekens, director of Power Pilates in the Classical Pilates technique. She trained with Bob Liekens to master the art of Pilates verbal cueing. Fran also studied with master instructor Liekens to gain a thorough understanding of the biomechanical principles of the Pilates workout.

Fran has spent many years in the field of education. She holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Spanish and a second Masters degree in Psychological Services. At the college level she was an academic advisor, counselor and instructor. While on staff at a Philadelphia suburban college, she was in charge of all the foreign students on campus in a federally funded program. At the college she ran support groups for all the foreign students on campus and authored A Handbook for Foreign Students.

In her spare time she worked voluntarily counseling (in Spanish) for a major Hispanic agency in Philadelphia's Puerto Rican community. She was the founder and was president of a national cancer organization. Fran sponsored a Barbadian immigrant. She helped her obtain her citizenship, enrolled her in college and helped her graduate Haverford College and Harvard Medical School. That person became, and still remains, one of Fran's closest and dearest friends as well as a practicing physician. Fran has sponsored several foster children in Africa through a child outreach program. In the 1980's Fran volunteered teaching in the Energy2Burn program, a fitness and education curriculum for fourth graders in public schools. She represented the American Council on Exercise and the National Fitness Leaders Association.

Fran is a former aerobic competitor, recipient of the Presidential Sports Award and has been written up as a fitness profile in five different publications in the Philadelphia area.

Fran genuinely loves to teach, whether it be a foreign language or exercise. Her passion for health and fitness and her desire to inspire people to exercise and pursue a healthy lifestyle is her main goal in life. As a cheerleader and role model, she is there for every person who walks in the door of Parkland Pilates of Coral Springs.